Dying of sepsis, and horseriding accidents

[elmenora]

Setting: fictional history, kind of a mashup between the roman empire and early turkic peoples plus lots of made-up stuff.  This particular scene is in a fairly remote desert, in early spring (very warm days, near-freezing nights).  The characters are going to a market town on their own to trade some things, and have no way to contact anyone else

Comments

[mudg3t]

I got an infection in my leg after a trauma do I might be able to help. I didn't (thankfully) suffer sepsis but if it had gone on longer then it would have. I have a nice big hole in my leg where they had to cut out the necrotic tissue. I initially thought I had flu - ridiculous fever, achy and I slept a lot. I vomited and didn't have much of an appetite. I was really thirsty though. The site was massively swollen and there were red patches around the site as well as all along my lower leg. They spread as the infection went on. Because I had cellulitis (under the skin) I had bruising where the haematoma and necrosis was, which you won't have with a puncture or laceration, but you will notice necrosis around the site. It will smell and there will be pus. With a puncture, the bacteria is pushed deep within the wound (which is why we don't stitch up puncture wounds). The character will feel lethargy, nausea, and probably be quite incoherent as the infection progresses. They will be sweaty and feel cold, as a result of the fever.

I hope that helps a bit :)

[elmenora]

Oh dear, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing, it's very helpful to have a first-hand account :)